


Ballad

by machine_gun_manda_panda



Series: 8 Tracks [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 8-track, F/M, Songfic, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:09:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4115041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machine_gun_manda_panda/pseuds/machine_gun_manda_panda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Second part to Champagne.<br/>Based off of The Ballad Of Love And Hate by The Avett Brothers</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ballad

Hermione sat down to write a quick note to the one person she missed most in the world. She knew her plane would be leaving in a couple of hours and she should have been packing, but she hoped that this letter would warrant a response. It had been a month and a half since she left and she missed her boyfriend dearly.

***

Draco woke up to a tapping sound. Cracking one eye, he saw a strange owl perched on the flower box outside of the window. Groaning, he got up to get the post, bare feet padding across the wooden floor of the cottage. He looked through the stack of letters, mentally prioritizing the order in which they needed to be read until he got to the last letter. Upon seeing the handwriting, he threw the rest of the mail down onto the counter and carefully ripped the envelope open.

“Draco, love,” he read aloud to himself, “My vacation’s ending. I'm coming home late. The weather was fine and the ocean was great and I can't wait to see you again. Love, Hermione.”

His stomach lurched and his heart stuttered. He missed Hermione and wanted to see her, but he was still angry at her for her sudden departure. It was the anger that won and he crumpled the piece of paper and threw it in the trash, sneering at the trash bin and muttering to himself, “No one here cares if you go or you stay. I barely even noticed that you were away. I'll see you or I won't, whatever." He made his way to the bedroom to get ready for work, packing an overnight bag in case he decided to stay at the Manor that night.

***

Hermione hummed to her music as she boarded the plane. She knew she could have requested a portkey, but she really liked flying the muggle way. It was safer and had fewer aftereffects than any other way of international transportation. She smiled to everyone she passed and was pleased to get a window seat. She loved looking out at the clear, blue ocean.

***

Draco walked through Diagon Alley, nodding to the many people he passed, but drowning in melancholy. The seriousness of his frown warded a lot of people away, but there were still a few who engaged in conversation. Draco entertained them for a bit, but then moved on, hoping to stop by The Leaky Cauldron before going on a broom ride.

***

Hermione arrived safely at London City Airport, dragging her carry-on behind her. Patrons looked upon her as she passed and they smiled in her absence. There was something about her aura that screamed loved and they hoped that she would soon be reunited with the one whose heart she carried in her suitcase.

***

Draco hovered just above the Slytherin section of the Quidditch pitch. He wasn’t sure why he had flown here, but it was the perfect spot to drink his nerves away. He knew the wards had alerted McGonagall of his being at Hogwarts, as he would often come and help the Slytherin team practice. He opened the bottle of firewhiskey he carried with him and started to drink, disregarding the time and the way the moon slid across the dark sky.

***

Hermione took a taxi to The Leaky Cauldron where she would then floo home. She chatted with the young man driving and laughed at his funny anecdotes. Before she got out of the car, the driver stopped her. “Is it queer,” he started, “to say that I think I love you?” Hermione laughed, handed the man his money and exited the car with a wave and a “goodbye”.

She found her cottage empty; exactly the way that she had left it. There were no signs that Draco had been there at all while she was away. Her heart sank a little to discover he wasn’t waiting for her. She quickly put away her things and called Narcissa.

“Malfoy Manor,” Hermione spoke into her library fireplace. When it finally connected, Hermione nervously said, “Hello?”

“Oh, Hermione! Is that you? How wonderful to hear from you, my dear.”

Hermione laughed. “Hi! I was wondering if Draco was at the Manor?”

“You know,” Narcissa said with a frown in her voice, “I haven’t seen him for a couple of days, but I’m sure he’ll be home soon. You did tell him you were coming back today, yes?”

“I wrote him this morning, but he never replied.”

“Shame on him! If I see or hear from him, I will let you know. Goodnight, Hermione.”

“Goodnight.”

After her conversation with Narcissa she called Blaise, Theo, Ginny, and even Pansy to see if they had heard or seen Draco. Each call was the same as the last so Hermione concluded that she would just have to wait up for him.

***

Draco’s landing into the front yard was anything but graceful. He dove too steep and too fast, resulting in flipping over his broom and landing in the garden bed. “Fuck!” he yelled, thanking Merlin for the silencing ward around the house. He cursed some more as he dusted the dirt off of his pants and noticed the library light on. “No no no. I can’t see her like this,” he thought.

Shouting some more, he rushed inside, stopping in the kitchen for a sober up potion that he quickly downed. Before making his way to the inevitable confrontation he would soon have with the love of his life, he checked the clock on the stove.

“2:55 A.M. plus the fifteen minutes it’s behind.” Draco sighed. And she thought that she would be home late.

He shuffled his feet down the hall and poked his head into the spare room that Hermione had turned into a library. There she sat, waiting for him with a worried smile. He leaned on the doorframe, taking her in before hanging his head and vomiting the words he had been dying to say. “Hermione, love, I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

Draco looked at her confused as she got up to meet him.

Hermione started again. “I’m yours and that’s it. Whatever.” She shrugged, her chocolate eyes drinking in the mercury of his. “I should not have been gone for so long. I’m yours and that’s it. Forever,” she said, holding up her left hand, the light catching the ring that had been sitting on the counter for a month and a half.

Draco’s eyes widened in recognition and he quickly pulled her into a kiss that relayed longing and happiness and eternity without saying a word. “You're mine,” he whispered, his breath tickling Hermione’s face, “and that’s it. Forever.”


End file.
